State of the Stack #80 (Feb. 1, 2019)

This is my monthly State of the Stack post. It is my way to keep track of my review books and to hopefully reduce the stack that I have waiting for me. I take a look at my review commitments on or near the first of the month. Link with Avalinah's Books (description below) to check out other people's progress.

Here is my Review Books Spreadsheet I list them in publication order and sort them by month. I can quickly see how many books I have for each date. Ideally, this keeps me from over-committing to review books. Check my spreadsheet to find out where I got each book.

I also do this post because sometimes (frequently) review books sit on my stack for a while before I read and review them. I try to read and review books within two weeks of publication date. Sometimes I can't, though, if too many books are releasing on the same date or if the book arrives too near its publication date and my calendar is already full.

I am very grateful to the authors and publishers who support my reading habit.

I Read This Month

These are listed in the order I read them. Links go to my reviews for all that have been posted already. Otherwise, the date the review is scheduled for is listed.

1. Watcher in the Woods by Kelley Armstrong
2. Stolen Time by Danielle Rollins
3. The Antidote by Shelley Sackier (Jan. 31)
4. The Military Wife by Laura Trentham (Feb. 2)
5. The Blood Spell by C. J. Redwine (Feb. 5)
6. Past Due for Murder by Victoria Gilbert (Feb. 6)
7. Say You're Sorry by Karen Rose (Feb. 8)
8. How I Became a Spy by Deborah Hopkinson (Feb. 14)
9. In the Dark by Cara Hunter (Feb. 13)
10. Immoral Code by Lillian Clark (Feb. 12)
11. Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch (Feb. 16)
12. Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch (Feb. 19)
13. The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch (March 19)
14. My Favorite Cowboy by Donna Grant (Feb. 20)
15. We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia (Feb. 21)

Read Previously, Reviews Posted This Month

1. Inventing Victoria by Tonya Bolden
2. The Hangman's Secret by Laura Joh Rowland
3. The Au Pair by Emma Rous 
4. The Paragon Hotel by Lyndsay Faye
5. This Promise of Change by Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy 
6. Untouchable by Jayne Ann Krentz
7. A Merciful Fate by Kendra Elliot
8. Tear It Down by Nick Petrie 
9. The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi 
10. Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee 
11. The Burning Island by Hester Young
12. Circle of Shadows by Evelyn Skye
13. Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch
14. The Storm Keeper's Island by Catherine Doyle
15. One Tough Cowboy by Lora Leigh & Veronica Chadwick
16. A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer 
17. Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch 

I Added These Books

These are listed in the order I received them. Links go to Amazon. Date published is listed in parentheses.

1. The Poet by Stephanie Jo Harris (Oct. 30, 2018)
2. The Poet Recusant by Stephanie Jo Harris (March 2019)
3. The Soul of Power by Callie Bates (June 4)
4. The Hummingbird Dagger by Cindy Anstey (April 16)
5. Trouble on the Books by Essie Lang (March 13)
6. Murder from Scratch by Leslie Karst (April 9)
7. A Dream of Death by Connie Berry (April 9)
8. Come and Get Me by August Norman (April 9)
9. Stolen Things by R. H. Herron (August 20)
10. Thornbound by Stephanie Burgis (Feb. 25)

My Review Pile

February

• Thornbound by Stephanie Burgis (Feb. 25)

March

• The Pioneer by Bridget Tyler (March 5)
• If You're Out There by Katy Loutzenhiser (March 5)
• The Waking Forest by Alyssa Wees (March 12)

• The True Queen by Zen Cho (March 12)
• The Poet: Recusant by Stephanie Jo Harris (March 12)
• Murder in Belgravia by Lynn Brittney (March 13)

• Trouble on the Books by Essie Lang (March 13)
• Sherwood by Meagan Spooner (March 19)
• Winter War Awakening by Rosalyn Eves (March 19)

• The Deepest Blue by Sarah Beth Durst (March 19)
• Secrets Never Lie by Melinda Leigh (March 19)
• Killing November by Adriana Mather (March 26)

April

• The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman (April 2)
• An Artless Demise by Anna Lee Huber (April 2)
• Caterpillar Summer by Gillian McDunn (April 2)

• Dreaming Darkly by Caitlin Kittredge (April 9)
• Murder from Scratch by Leslie Karst (April 9)
• A Dream of Death by Connie Berry (April 9) 

• Come and Get Me by August Norman (April April 9)
• The Hummingbird Dagger by Cindy Anstey (April 16)

May

• The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (May 7)
• Spark by Sarah Beth Durst (May 14)

June

• The Soul of Power by Callie Bates (June 4)

August

• Stolen Things by R. H. Herron (Aug. 20)

Older

• The Poet by Stephanie Jo Harris (Oct. 30, 2018)

Next Month's Plan

I think this might be the lowest number of upcoming ARCs that I have had since I began reviewing. This is okay because I am trying to be much more selective about the review books I choose and have bunches of my own books to read if I ever finish with ARCs.

I had all my February review books finished until I received Thornbound on Wednesday. Since this is a novella, it won't take very long to read and review.

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I am also linking up with the State of the ARC meme. Here is the explanation and rules.

State of the ARC is a monthly meme at Avalinah’s Books meant to motivate you to finish up all your long overdue ARCs (Advanced or Early Reader Copies). You can track your reading progress and link up with your own post. Most commonly it comes out on the 30th of every month.

Rules of State of the ARC:

• Mention that you’re linking up with State of the ARC @ AvalinahsBooks, which is a fun way to share our ARC progress, challenges, wins, woes and mishaps.
• Include the link to this post, or the current State of the ARC post. You can use my State of the ARC image too.
• Don’t forget to visit all the other people in the link-up and comment.
• And most importantly – have fun!